Six years later: Hayatullah Khan's family calls for justice

Six years after the murder of journalist Hayatullah Khan,
his brother Ahsan Ahmad Khan has asked CPJ to put pressure on the government and
the Supreme Court of Pakistan to ensure that a special investigation carried
out in September 2006 into the journalist's death be released. (A copy of Ahsan Ahmad's message can be found
here, and CPJ's
translation from Urdu is below.)

Unfortunately, we have been down this road before. CPJ has
met with officials in the governments of Presidents Pervez Musharraf
and Asif Ali Zardari,
but none have followed through on their promises to make the results of the
investigation known. CPJ joins with Hayatullah Khan's family in their renewed
call for the release of Justice Mohammed Reza Khan's September 2006
investigation into his death. After a phone call with Ahsan Ahmad, we sent a letter to President
Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Rehman Malik today.

At a time of resurging international interest in warfare along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, the Khan family's
appeal is timely. Pakistan
and the U.S. are struggling to rebuild ties after a November 26 airstrike
by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan that killed 24 Pakistani troops, for
which the Americans have yet to apologize. Local reporters like Khan are
necessary to the independent reporting that can reveal important details in a
story of such international import.

It was on December 4, 2005 that Khan was one of the first
Pakistani journalists to capture photographic evidence that the United States
had violated Pakistani sovereignty, when he transmitted pictures of the
remnants of a U.S.-made Hellfire missile that had struck a home in the town
of Miran Shah, killing senior al-Qaeda figure Hamza Rabia.The story, which appeared in the widely read
Urdu-language daily Ausaf,
and the pictures, distributed by the European
Pressphoto Agency, contradicted the Pakistani government's official
explanation that Rabia had died in a blast caused by explosives in the house.

Six years ago, on December 5, 2005, five gunmen in a white,
four-door Toyota pickup truck ran Hayatullah Khan's car off the road, and took
him away. His younger brother Haseenullah, who had been driving, was unable to
help him. Six months later, on June 16, 2006, a phone call at 4:40 p.m. to the
family's home told them that Khan's body had been dumped in Miran Shah's
marketplace.

In the months between Khan's abduction and that phone call,
Pakistani journalists and international media support groups waged an all-out
campaign to get Khan released, and then pressed for an investigation into his
death. The government complied with demands, and in September of 2006, High
Court Justice Mohammed Reza Khan led an inquiry and submitted its report, but
the results have never been made public. Government investigations into
the deaths of journalists are not rare, nor is the government's decision not to
release the findings. In a June 3 blog, Justice
for Saleem Shahzad? We've seen this before... CPJ highlighted the same
problem.

One other point that Ahsan Ahmad made when we spoke with him
Tuesday morning: In 2006, public anger over the injustice of Khan's death moved
the government to extend financial aid to his children. Ahsan Ahmad told us
that he is looking after his brother's five children in Peshawar. "They have
neither mother nor father now. We have been getting education money, about Rs.
12,000 (about $130) each month, from the Pakistani government from 2006 to
2010, but we haven't received any money in 2011. Maybe it's because of the
problems in Pakistan, but we have been told that we'll probably get it again
starting this month. I want to say this specifically: The Pakistani government
must not let anything get in the way of these children's education. The
children must not face any problems."

Here is CPJ's translation of the message we received from
Ahsan Ahmad Khan, dated November 22. We have deleted some contact details. His
message in Urdu can be found here.

This is an appeal on behalf of the late journalist Hayat
Ullah Khan's brother and children. I am the brother of the deceased Hayat Ullah
Khan, Ahsan Ahmad. I write this appeal in Urdu because I lack the skill to do
so in English. My late brother Hayat Ullah Khan was kidnapped on December 5,
2005, because he wrote an article and printed a photo about a U.S.-guided
missile. International and national journalists protested at his kidnapping.
However, his body was found on June 16, 2006, he was found in official
handcuffs, and international and national journalists protested against the
Pakistani government. In response, the Pakistani government and Supreme Court
took suo moto action and ordered an inquiry into the case.

Even after the inquiry was completed, journalists were not
informed about the Pakistani Supreme Court/Pakistani government's results and
no one covered it. After that, the house of the late Hayat Ullah Khan was
raided and bombed. The result was that the late journalist's wife, Mehru-Nisa,
was killed. She was the chief witness to the case.

I request your organization, I appeal to you, that you put
pressure on the government of Pakistan and the Supreme Court and ensure the
inquiry's results are brought to the forefront. If the government does not do
this, this case should be brought to the attention of the International
Criminal Court so we can get justice.

My dead brother has five children.... All of them since 2009
have been living in Peshawar with me and are studying. I have full faith in
your organization and trust that you will help and support us with the case.

Thank you very, very much.

Ahsan Ahmad

Bob Dietz, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program, has reported across the continent for news outlets such as CNN and Asiaweek. He has led numerous CPJ missions, including ones to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Follow him on Twitter @cpjasia and Facebook @ CPJ Asia Desk.